• Interview: David Levin, CEO, UBM: Organizing For Audience; RBI Would Be ‘Backward Step’ | paidContent:UK

  A busy day for United Business Media - splitting its CMP tech publishing unit in four and posting 2007 results (operating profit up 11.5 percent on an adjusted basis). UBM CEO David Levin explained breaking CMP apart is all about brand over medium…

  (tags: b2b)

• Jeremy Hillman, editor of BBC business and economics unit on PR

  “It seems to me effective PR isn’t about flogging a ropey product launch. It comes from a deep understanding and mastery of the issues around the industry and business you represent and the ability to express those powerfully and honestly.”

  (tags: pr)

• The Entire Communications Industry, in Less than 200 Pages

  “The 2007 Digital Economy Fact Book (pdf) is a tightwad researcher’s dream: In-depth, statistic-heavy, well-cited, and freely-available online. One could hardly ask for more.”

  (tags: research reports data)

• How To Manage Your Online Reputation - ReadWriteWeb

  “The latest tool for reputation management is Trackur, but its bottom-level price is $88/month, so the question on my mind, is: “Is it worth it?” There are already many different ways to monitor your online reputation as it is. Let’s see how they stack up.”

  (tags: pr reputation_management)

• Leading Media Companies Expand Roles and Capabilities, Meeting Marketers’ Ever-Growing Digital Needs, Says Joint IAB/Booz Allen Hamilton Study

  The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) today announced that new research encompassing more than 100 of its members demonstrates that the strategies, investments and capabilities required to succeed in digital media have shifted dramatically. Media compa

  (tags: advertising mediabusiness)

• Social Media: ‘Agencies Don’t Get It,’ Survey Says

  “I think traditional ad agencies have very little contribution to make,” Bryan Simkins, a marketing specialist at FedEx, told TNS. “They are mostly driven by their compensation models which are made for closed media. Those models don’t apply in open media

  (tags: agencies advertising socialmedia)

• MediaPost Publications - GroupM Restructures Search, Integrates 24/7 Real Media’s Decide DNA - 02/15/2008

  “We intend to have one GroupM way of attacking the problems of search –including staff development,” Norman told Online Media Daily. “With unified tools and training, we can optimize both the quality and the amount of time spent on search campaigns, and

  (tags: sem agencies)

• The Rise of the ‘Citizen Paparazzi’ - WSJ.com

  (tags: journalism)

• Link Journalism: Is Linking to News a form of Journalism? - ReadWriteWeb

  (tags: journalism)

• Stop Press 2: Hitwise Data Shows Google News UK Unbiased - Search Engine Watch

  Google News UK is sorting stories “without fear or favor.” It is so unbiased that it is even sending traffic to its competitors. Or, to borrow a line from the BBC charter, Google News UK is “free from both political and commercial influence” and answers o

  (tags: googlenews)

• Conversation Agent: Print is Far from Dead - Can New Media Rise to That Level?

  This year’s winners are: * Akzia, bi-weekly from Moscow, with a circulation of 200,000
  * Expresso, a weekly news from Portugal, circulation 140,000
  * Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, a weekly Sunday paper from Germany, circulation 320,

  (tags: newspapers design)

• Interview: Chris Johnson, VP, Hearst Digital: Pinning Its Digital Strategy On Portals | paidContent.org

  , Hearst has been heavily focused on refining its online strategy for the past year. After a good deal of experimentation, the company has hit on a basic formula that will guide it for at least the next year: closer ties with portals.

  (tags: magazines hearst)

• Johnston Earnings Preview: No Digital Relaunch; Online Acquisitions Unlikely | paidContent:UK

  ”We’re not preparing a digital relaunch in any way. We have a continually evolving web offering but it isn’t being relaunched; that’s completely fallacious … hopelessly wrong.”

  (tags: newspapers)

• WPP bullish after healthy 2007 figures

  (tags: advertising wpp)

• A VC: Conviction and Discipline

  I ran into an old friend last night and we got to talking about the traits of a great investor. He said he thought the number one trait of great investors is discipline. I agreed that was key. But I added that conviction was also critical.

  (tags: vc)

• What We Look For Union Square Ventures: A New York Venture Capital Fund Focused on Early Stage & Startup Investing

  The following five posts guide our thinking as we navigate our investment environment

  (tags: vcs)

• Matt McAlister » Local news is going the wrong way

  Google’s new Local News offering misses the point entirely.

  (tags: local googlenews)

• MediaShift . Digging Deeper::Distinction Between Bloggers, Journalists Blurring More Than Ever | PBS

  The time-worn debate of Bloggers vs. Journalists has finally run its course

  (tags: blogging journalism)

• Exclusive Interview: Stephen Covey on His Morning Routine, Blogs, Technology, GTD and The Secret | Zen Habits

  It’s such a thrill to share with you this interview with one of my heroes, author Stephen Covey of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People fame.

  (tags: gtd organising)

• Micro Persuasion: Comparing SMM SEO and PR Tactics is Pure Poppycock

  Call me an optimist, but in 2008 most in the PR business take a clean approach to social media. A key reason is that when our clients engage, their participation needs to be transparent for it to be credible.

  (tags: pr socialmedia)

• Newspaper Web Sites Growing? Sure. But Papers Still Screwed. - Silicon Alley Insider

  Consumer research firm Scarborough released some vague data Wednesday that purports to show an encouraging trend for newspapers: Namely, more people are reading newspapers online.

  (tags: newspapers)

..but I could just about run to the £7.99 for Yael Naim’s eponymous album [iTunes] that features the soundtrack to the ad. And it’s really rather lovely, makes a change from Adele, Duffy etc. Thoroughly recommended.